Pleistocene human remains from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan, and their radiocarbon dating

Ryohei Nakagawa; Naomi Doi; Yuichiro Nishioka; Shin Nunami; Heizaburo Yamauchi; Masaki Fujita; Shinji Yamazaki; Masaaki Yamamoto; Chiaki Katagiri; Hitoshi Mukai; Hiroyuki Matsuzaki; Takashi Gakuhari; Mai Takigami; Minoru Yoneda

doi:10.1537/ase.091214

Pleistocene human remains from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan, and their radiocarbon dating

Ryohei Nakagawa, Naomi Doi, Yuichiro Nishioka, Shin Nunami, Heizaburo Yamauchi, Masaki Fujita, Shinji Yamazaki, Masaaki Yamamoto, Chiaki Katagiri, Hitoshi Mukai, Hiroyuki Matsuzaki, Takashi Gakuhari, Mai Takigami, Minoru Yoneda^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

30 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Nine human remains were recovered from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, between 2007 and 2009. Six of the nine samples produced well-preserved biogenic collagen, which was submitted to radiocarbon dating by accelerator mass spectrometry. Three human samples (Nos. 2, 4, and 8) from the fossil chamber were dated to between 16 and 20 ka BP, and can clearly be assigned to the Late Pleistocene. One animal bone from the same chamber which was treated and measured for radiocarbon independently was also of great antiquity (c. 12 ka BP). These dates are the first concrete evidence of human occupation on the Ryukyu Islands during the Pleistocene, based on the direct radiocarbon dates of human remains. It is expected that more human remains and archaeological objects of the Pleistocene will be recovered from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave and the surrounding region by future intensive collaborations between anthropologists, archaeologists, and speleologists.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	173-183
Number of pages	11
Journal	Anthropological Science
Volume	118
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1537/ase.091214
Publication status	Published - 2011 Jan
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Ishigaki
Late Pleistocene
Minatogawa
Okinawa
Palaeolithic

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Anthropology

Access to Document

10.1537/ase.091214

Cite this

Nakagawa, R., Doi, N., Nishioka, Y., Nunami, S., Yamauchi, H., Fujita, M., Yamazaki, S., Yamamoto, M., Katagiri, C., Mukai, H., Matsuzaki, H., Gakuhari, T., Takigami, M., & Yoneda, M. (2011). Pleistocene human remains from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan, and their radiocarbon dating. Anthropological Science, 118(3), 173-183. https://doi.org/10.1537/ase.091214

Nakagawa, R, Doi, N, Nishioka, Y, Nunami, S, Yamauchi, H, Fujita, M, Yamazaki, S, Yamamoto, M, Katagiri, C, Mukai, H, Matsuzaki, H, Gakuhari, T, Takigami, M & Yoneda, M 2011, 'Pleistocene human remains from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan, and their radiocarbon dating', Anthropological Science, vol. 118, no. 3, pp. 173-183. https://doi.org/10.1537/ase.091214

@article{22f14f5fc95f43d3ac3d6e72865552ab,

title = "Pleistocene human remains from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan, and their radiocarbon dating",

abstract = "Nine human remains were recovered from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, between 2007 and 2009. Six of the nine samples produced well-preserved biogenic collagen, which was submitted to radiocarbon dating by accelerator mass spectrometry. Three human samples (Nos. 2, 4, and 8) from the fossil chamber were dated to between 16 and 20 ka BP, and can clearly be assigned to the Late Pleistocene. One animal bone from the same chamber which was treated and measured for radiocarbon independently was also of great antiquity (c. 12 ka BP). These dates are the first concrete evidence of human occupation on the Ryukyu Islands during the Pleistocene, based on the direct radiocarbon dates of human remains. It is expected that more human remains and archaeological objects of the Pleistocene will be recovered from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave and the surrounding region by future intensive collaborations between anthropologists, archaeologists, and speleologists.",

keywords = "Ishigaki, Late Pleistocene, Minatogawa, Okinawa, Palaeolithic",

author = "Ryohei Nakagawa and Naomi Doi and Yuichiro Nishioka and Shin Nunami and Heizaburo Yamauchi and Masaki Fujita and Shinji Yamazaki and Masaaki Yamamoto and Chiaki Katagiri and Hitoshi Mukai and Hiroyuki Matsuzaki and Takashi Gakuhari and Mai Takigami and Minoru Yoneda",

year = "2011",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1537/ase.091214",

language = "English",

volume = "118",

pages = "173--183",

journal = "Anthropological Science",

issn = "0918-7960",

publisher = "Anthropological Society of Nippon",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Pleistocene human remains from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan, and their radiocarbon dating

AU - Nakagawa, Ryohei

AU - Doi, Naomi

AU - Nishioka, Yuichiro

AU - Nunami, Shin

AU - Yamauchi, Heizaburo

AU - Fujita, Masaki

AU - Yamazaki, Shinji

AU - Yamamoto, Masaaki

AU - Katagiri, Chiaki

AU - Mukai, Hitoshi

AU - Matsuzaki, Hiroyuki

AU - Gakuhari, Takashi

AU - Takigami, Mai

AU - Yoneda, Minoru

PY - 2011/1

Y1 - 2011/1

N2 - Nine human remains were recovered from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, between 2007 and 2009. Six of the nine samples produced well-preserved biogenic collagen, which was submitted to radiocarbon dating by accelerator mass spectrometry. Three human samples (Nos. 2, 4, and 8) from the fossil chamber were dated to between 16 and 20 ka BP, and can clearly be assigned to the Late Pleistocene. One animal bone from the same chamber which was treated and measured for radiocarbon independently was also of great antiquity (c. 12 ka BP). These dates are the first concrete evidence of human occupation on the Ryukyu Islands during the Pleistocene, based on the direct radiocarbon dates of human remains. It is expected that more human remains and archaeological objects of the Pleistocene will be recovered from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave and the surrounding region by future intensive collaborations between anthropologists, archaeologists, and speleologists.

AB - Nine human remains were recovered from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, between 2007 and 2009. Six of the nine samples produced well-preserved biogenic collagen, which was submitted to radiocarbon dating by accelerator mass spectrometry. Three human samples (Nos. 2, 4, and 8) from the fossil chamber were dated to between 16 and 20 ka BP, and can clearly be assigned to the Late Pleistocene. One animal bone from the same chamber which was treated and measured for radiocarbon independently was also of great antiquity (c. 12 ka BP). These dates are the first concrete evidence of human occupation on the Ryukyu Islands during the Pleistocene, based on the direct radiocarbon dates of human remains. It is expected that more human remains and archaeological objects of the Pleistocene will be recovered from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave and the surrounding region by future intensive collaborations between anthropologists, archaeologists, and speleologists.

KW - Ishigaki

KW - Late Pleistocene

KW - Minatogawa

KW - Okinawa

KW - Palaeolithic

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78049325107&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=78049325107&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1537/ase.091214

DO - 10.1537/ase.091214

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:78049325107

SN - 0918-7960

VL - 118

SP - 173

EP - 183

JO - Anthropological Science

JF - Anthropological Science

IS - 3

ER -

Pleistocene human remains from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan, and their radiocarbon dating

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this